Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Are We Really Surprised?

A pet chimpanzee - who had appeared in TV commercials and shows - got loose at a home at 241 Rock Rimmon Road in Stamford, Connecticut Monday afternoon, according to Stamford police. And it was not his first time.

His owner, Sandra Herold, 70, had called a friend over to help since "Travis" was misbehaving. He had taken the keys to the car. The chimp was also trying to open car doors, which he apparently did to indicate he wanted to go for a ride. Herold was able to coax Travis back to the house and she gave him some Xanax-laced tea, said police.

So what do you do against a 200-lb chimp who's roughly twice as strong as a normal human? How about knife-play?

Travis' owner tried to stop the attack by stabbing the chimp with a butcher knife. When that didn't work, she called 911, according to police.

Surely, the cops would have little trouble, right?

Travis then charged at police, smashed a car window and opened the door to a police cruiser where an officer was taking cover. That officer shot the chimp several times and Travis ran off. Police followed a trail of blood through the house and found Travis dead in his living quarters in the back of the house, said police. He had several gunshot wounds, police said.

Keep in mind: this was one chimp. Just one. I have a feeling that if those bullets didn't put that chimp down, there would have been an APB calling for Batman.